Integrated activities for grades K-5 from my classes at @MarymountNYC’s #STEAM camp. #edtech #MakerEd

From June 22 – July 24, I led technology projects at Marymount’s Summer STEAM Camp in the awesome FabLab Makerspace at their 5th Avenue campus. It was quite an experience to gather, develop, and run projects for campers with varying skill sets in grades K-5 for five weeks. Also, each grade level had a different and unique theme almost every week, and I challenged myself to plan integrated projects that correlated with their themes.

Thankfully, I regularly attend lots of professional development events including meetings, workshops, and conferences. Plus, I have a pretty big network of people generously willing to share ideas, so the hardest part was to research different options for each week’s topic and narrow down the choices. Blessedly, Nancy Otero (@LeSheepo) was there for the final week of camp to help with crafting automata and laser cutting gears. She’s an amazingly gifted engineer and design thinker who also leads wonderful learning opportunities at The Beam Center (@beamcenterNYC) in Brooklyn and beyond.

I created a GoogleSite of resources and topics which I shared with teachers and parents for the summer. Below is a summary of topics covered, and here is a link to the full site: https://sites.google.com/site/mmtsteamcamp2015

** Inventors and Explorers 1 and Inventors and Explorers 2 **

IE1 and IE2 in grades K-1 were the youngest campers I worked with. They met the least frequently for one or two 45-minute sessions per week. I had a set of iPads available, so after some brief instructions and examples, kids worked independently or in pairs to explore a variety of coding, building, and learning apps including Kodable, Hopscotch, Scratch Jr., Blokify, Tinkerplay, and PrintShop.

** STEAM 1 and STEAM 2 **

STEAM1 campers were in grades 1-2, and STEAM2 campers were in grades 3-4. I saw them for a combined 6 or 7 hours or so during the week in 45-minute and 90-minute blocks to explore:
— Stop-motion videos with the Stop Motion Studio iPad app
— Paper circuits with great instructions from @Exploratorium
— The Toontastic iPad app
— 3D printing with the MakerBot PrintShop and Cubify iPad apps
— MakeyMakey pianos, LED light up plush toys with a sewn-in battery pocket
— Cardboard automata with laser-cut gears and 3-D printed bearings with another set of great instructions from the Exploratorium: http://www.exploratorium.edu/pie/downloads/Cardboard_Automata.pdf

** STEAM 3 **

STEAM3 campers were in grades 5 and met for about 5 hours a week in 45-minute and 90-minute blocks. Topics explored included:
— DNA with origami and by making LED cuff bracelets where kids’ initials correlated with the color schemes of amino acids
— MakeyMakey pianos and other instruments made with cardboard, conductive materials, and Scratch programming
— Rube Goldberg machines with materials found all over the lab (I showed them Audri’s viral enthusiastic video and OK Go’s This Too Shall Pass music video for inspiration — see below)
— 3D printing with the MakerBot PrintShop, Cubify, 123D Design, and Morphi iPad apps
— Making interactive endangered animal maze games using Scratch programming environment
— Cardboard automata with laser-cut gears and 3-D printed bearings with great instructions from the Exploratorium

Sewable LED Sequins” how-to video

I tweeted out a photo of a cuff-bracelet that I made with 5th graders at the Marymount STEAM camp which used Lilypad sewable LED lights. @LindseyOwn tweeted a reply about wanting to locate even less expensive surface-mounted LEDs. I was thrilled to share with her a video via @Adafruit linked from a matriarch of e-textiles and sewable circuits, @LeahBuechley, of the High-Low Tech Group.

The following tweets are from the Twitter conversation with @LindseyOwn:

Sewing parallel circuits with multiple #Lilypad LEDs and a metal snap switch at @MarymountNY #STEAM Camp! #MakerEd pic.twitter.com/vNvTXfVEME

— Karen Blumberg (@KarenBlumberg) June 25, 2015

@LindseyOwn Like these that @leahbuechley recommends from @digikey? http://t.co/7BcX4zLZpJ and then solder on beads? http://t.co/Kry8janFqA

— Karen Blumberg (@KarenBlumberg) June 26, 2015

@LindseyOwn @leahbuechley @digikey People are brilliant! I'll still continue to look for cheap pre-made sewable surface-mounted LEDs. #STEAM

— Karen Blumberg (@KarenBlumberg) June 26, 2015

Hoping to get some of my teachers to participate in @OneDayOnEarth on 12/12/12

From their website at http://www.onedayonearth.org:

On December 12th, 12.12.12, across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and other inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period and contribute their voice to the third annual global day of media creation called One Day on Earth. Together, we will create a shared archive and a film.

Founded in 2008, One Day on Earth’s first media creation event occurred on 10.10.10. and the second on 11.11.11. The 10.10.10 collaboration was the first ever simultaneous filming event occurring in every country of the world. One Day on Earth collaborations create a unique geo-tagged video archive as well as an annual feature film.

Together, we are showcasing the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one day. We invite you to join our international community of thousands of filmmakers, hundreds of schools, and dozens of non-profits, and contribute to this unique global mosaic. One Day on Earth is a community that not only watches, but participates.

Follow One Day On Earth on Twitter at @OneDayOnEarth

MIT-K12: Making Video to Make a Difference

http://k12videos.mit.edu

In December, 2011, Ian Waitz, MIT’s Dean of Engineering, launched the MIT-K12 project, driven by a series of questions: How can we change the perception of the role of engineers and scientists in the world? What can MIT do, right now, to improve STEM education at the K12 level? What if MIT became a publicly accessible “experiential partner” to the country’s K12 educators? What if MIT students generated short-form videos to complement the work those educators are already doing in their classrooms and homes?

This site was built around a simple idea: K12 educators and MIT should be working together to make movies. No one would argue that STEM education in the U.S. is in tough shape. Teachers want to do something about it, and so do MIT students.

Well, here’s your chance.

1. Educators can submit ideas for experiments or demonstrations they would like to see an MIT student perform and explain in a short video (5-10 minutes long) that will be made available online.

2. MIT students can then “check out” these assignments (in the library sense of that phrase) — or they can come up with their own ideas and check them out themselves.